Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 175

It seems a messenger has arrived from Anastasia von Anhalt, my elder sister, who should currently be preparing for the Electoral Prince Succession Ceremony in the Imperial Capital.

The wax seal on the delivered letter matches the royal family’s crest, and the handwriting within is undoubtedly my sister’s.

There is no doubt about its authenticity.

The contents of the letter are as follows:

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After much deliberation, I’ve decided to get straight to the point.

I am returning Lord Faust von Polydoro to your command.

To be precise, he was never truly under my command in the first place.

It was more a case of me temporarily borrowing him from you. However, given the current situation, I have judged that you, who are on the march, are in a more dangerous position than I am, who remains in the Imperial Capital.

This decision is not born out of sisterly affection, but rather from the current situation within the Holy Gusten Empire, which you are unaware of, and the sincere plea of Lord Faust von Polydoro, who is deeply concerned for your safety.

Of course, I do not mean to imply that I dislike you or anything of the sort.

At the very least, I have come to regard you as an adorable little sister as of late.

What I truly wish to convey is that I want you to be seriously aware of the severe danger that will soon befall you.

Now, you might want to ask what kind of danger is expected.

If you were here with me, I would gladly tell you, but unfortunately, I am on the march.

Although I don’t think there’s any chance that this letter will be stolen, there’s always the possibility that it could be lost due to some disaster or accident.

Given the chance that this letter might fall into someone else’s hands, I cannot disclose what is happening in the Imperial Capital.

Moreover, even if I were to reveal secrets to you, it wouldn’t necessarily improve the situation of my dear sister, Valere von Anhalt.

Therefore, first and foremost, I am returning Faust, the most powerful knight of our nation, to your command.

Secondly, I have just warned you that a severe danger will soon be upon you.

Remember these two points carefully.

You may show this letter only to your close confidante, Sabine von Wespermann.

She will likely offer appropriate counsel.

While I would clap my hands in joy if that madwoman Sabine were to die, I trust her intelligence, abilities, and loyalty to you.

At the same time, do not show this letter to anyone else.

I have received information that you are on your way to the Imperial Capital with over 1,000 men, but we do not know where the enemies of Anhalt might be lurking.

Frankly, our enemies may have a reach even longer than this Anastasia’s hand.

Do not trust anyone outside your loyal guard.

You are kind-hearted and likely to place trust in new local knights, but remember this: there is a reason why neither our mother nor I have fully accepted you.

People betray.

I won’t say that it’s okay for you to betray others in turn, though.

There’s no point in saying that, as it would be useless.

Your sister Anastasia knows better than anyone that you could never do such a thing.

Because of this, as your sister, I earnestly ask you to heed my advice.

I do not want to lose my dear sister.

Please understand this.

Do not show this letter to anyone except Sabine.

Do not reveal its contents to anyone.

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The handwriting unmistakably belongs to my sister Anastasia, and I traced it with my finger.

This was the first time I had ever received a letter from her that showed any kindness or concern for me. Normally, her correspondence is curt and businesslike.

Although the two key points she wanted to convey were clear, the postscript left me somewhat perplexed.

I can only assume that Duchess Astarte has done something peculiar, but she hasn’t made it clear, leaving me at a loss.

In any case…

“So, Faust has come under my command again.”

This brought a great sense of relief.

It was an unexpected joy.

To be honest, I never expected my sister to return Faust, whom she had taken as her partner to the Imperial Capital.

More than that, considering Faust’s position, I thought it would be difficult for him to abandon my sister, his lord, just before the Electoral Prince Succession Ceremony, and come to assist me, his fiancée.

I don’t know how she managed to pull it off, but my sister must have devised some brilliant plan, as she always does.

I was truly grateful from the bottom of my heart.

I felt the nausea rising from my stomach ease and the dull pain that had been lingering for so long subside.

It felt as if the God of Stomach Pains was smiling gently at me.

The God of Stomach Pains, an imaginary deity of mine, smiles both when he inflicts pain upon one’s stomach and when he eases it.

He is a wicked god, strictly speaking.

Damn you, wicked god.

I no longer need your power to slightly alleviate my stomach pains when I pray to you.

“Well then.”

I must quickly prepare to welcome Faust, who has returned to my command.

I must also extend my gratitude to the messengers who came with him.

Yes, perhaps I should express my gratitude publicly.

It would be an honor for the messengers and would also uphold my sister Anastasia’s honor.

But more importantly, it would benefit me.

“In any case, I need to somehow make it clear that I have no intention of competing with my elder sister for the Electorate title.”

It seems some strange rumors have been circulating within this brigade. Specifically, some people are saying that I am planning to threaten my sister Anastasia with force, or even worse, that I intend to kill her and usurp the Electorate title.

I tried to have the bard that Sabine brought along spread the word that such things are not true—repeating it twice, “It’s not true, it’s not true,”—and to forcefully spread some appropriate episode highlighting the good relationship between me, Valere, and my sister Anastasia. But the bard, for some reason, said, “Ah, you’re just laying the groundwork before making your move. I understand. There’s an old story of a general who, even after his beloved son was killed and fed to him, bided his time with a smile before coldly taking revenge on his lord.” Clearly, this bard hasn’t listened to a single word I’ve said.

He’s completely enchanted by some strange notion.

I have no idea where the idea that I would kill my sister Anastasia came from.

Moreover, I’ve never held a grudge against my sister like the one in the bard’s story, nor do I recall her ever doing anything terrible to me.

No matter how much my sister might look like someone who eats human flesh, it’s still incredibly rude to say that.

But that’s not all.

No, it’s not just that.

“Who’s been spreading the rumor that I’m planning to attack the Imperial Capital? We don’t even have enough troops for that!”

To exert pressure on the Imperial Capital, we’d need at least ten thousand soldiers. It would require an army of the scale led by Lord Reckenber, the greatest hero in Virendorf’s history, with his Landsknecht, and no matter how things might go wrong, there’s no way I could gather such a force.

“How ridiculous.”

There’s no way such a disaster could actually occur. The absurdity of it all made me smile inadvertently.

My stomach felt so light.

My fiancée, Faust—who is the Second Princess’s Advisor, an experienced feudal knight, and the strongest hero of Anhalt—was nearby. Just knowing that made all my previous stomach pains disappear.

“Hehe.”

I laughed cheerfully.

Now, my mother Liesenlotte, my sister Anastasia, my cousin Georgine von Astarte, my arch-enemy Queen Ina Katarina Maria Virendorf of the Virendorf Electorate family, and my loyal subordinate Sabine von Wespermann, who, despite being my trusted aide, still whispers things like, “Valere-sama’s fiancé Faust is honestly a complete scoundrel, hehehe, seducing everyone.” Sabine is a bit off in her own way, but aside from her, everyone else acts like they’re doing me a favor by saying, “I’ll take the first night with Faust, but I’ll recognize you as his legitimate wife since it’s more convenient for me that way.”

Ignoring all these advances from other women, Faust came here just for me, to protect me from the severe danger that is about to strike.

“I never thought Faust loved me for anything other than the duty of our master-servant relationship. I always assumed our marriage was purely for mutual benefit.”

But after reading my sister’s letter, I realized that wasn’t the case. Faust himself offered to protect me and came all the way here for me.

To be honest, I feel a strange sense of elation now, and there’s nothing bad about it at all.

“Hehe.”

He truly does love me, not just as a master and servant or as lord and knight. We love each other as a man and a woman. I can declare that to the world.

I was truly happy.

“I wish he would just say it clearly.”

I hugged my sister’s letter to my chest and smiled.

If only he would say clearly that he loves me.

That’s what I find myself thinking.

This is the first time I’ve ever thought about romance between a man and a woman. Normally, the only requests I get from my personal guard are absurd ones like, “I want to go to a brothel, please give me the money,” or “Even though I have no future prospects and can’t see beyond tomorrow, I hope somehow a page falls madly in love with me and gives me everything.”

It’s my job to bring them back to reality by telling them, “Get a grip, no one is going to love you, so face the truth.”

That was the extent of my experiences with love-related matters.

But now, it’s different.

Now, it’s different.

I, too, have a fiancé who truly loves me.

I hopped around, clutching the letter to my chest.

“Sabine! Bring Faust here immediately! No, that won’t be enough. You need to announce before everyone that a formal messenger from my sister has arrived!”

As I was giddily making these demands, Sabine, my loyal subordinate, looked at me curiously and muttered.

“What are you talking about? Faust, your fiancé and my soon-to-be lover, hasn’t come. It’s Lord Biggus who arrived.”

Her voice was truly puzzled.

I realized that the letter and reality didn’t match and couldn’t help but blurt out the most pressing question on my mind.

“Wait, who on earth is Lord Biggus?! There’s no knight with such an odd name in Anhalt!”

Sabine, still looking puzzled, responded, “Well, that’s what they said. I prioritized reporting to you first, so I haven’t met him yet.”

Seeing Sabine’s genuinely confused expression, I began to wonder if reality was completely different from my ideals.

Hasn’t life always disappointed me in everything I’ve expected?

Don’t lose your head over romance; stay calm, I told myself.

My rational mind began quietly advising me, ever so gently.